Hunt

Hunt Activity

Goal

The goal of Hunt is to locate and catch as many rabbits as possible before the allotted time expires or three misses occur. Continuously scan the environment for prey and carefully plan your next jump from bush to bush.

Game Play

Dan must successfully catch the rabbits that live in burrows covered by bushes because these rabbits are the primary source of food for the crew. With an overhead view of terrain and armed with a sling, Dan searches the terrain for rabbits. Dan must move close enough to catch his prey, without scaring them away. He moves by jumping from bush to bush. While Dan looks for rabbits, he rotates counterclockwise. As levels increase, the speed of rotation increases, making the challenge of hitting rabbits more difficult.

To successfully capture a rabbit:

1. Move Dan within throwing range (i.e. inside the targeting cone) of a bush that contains a rabbit.

2. Throw a stone at the rabbit as soon as it falls into the targeting cone. If the stone makes contact with the rabbit, Dan automatically runs forward to collect his catch.

The player has a limited amount of time to search for rabbits before the game ends. While Dan moves from bush to bush looking for rabbits, he rotates counterclockwise. Dan must time slinging his stone to coincide with a rabbit falling into the targeting cone. If Dan throws a stone at a rabbit and misses, he will lose that stone . If Dan runs onto a bush where a rabbit is located, the rabbit will run away, never to be seen again. Each rabbit caught is worth three food that Dan uses to feed himself, Rusty, and Books.

Each level has two stages. As levels increase, the speed of rotation increases, making the challenge of hitting rabbits more difficult.

Controls

Movement – Tap a bush on the screen and Dan moves directly to that bush.

Throw Spear– Tap Dan to throw a stone as the targeting cone revolves. A successful catch occurs when Dan throws a stone to coincide with a rabbit falling into the targeting cone.

Tips

• Not every bush has a rabbit in it that may or may not have a rabbit in them.
• The rate of targeting cone rotation, the number of rabbits, the number of bushes and level environment will becoming more challenging with each level.
• Each rabbit caught is worth food that will be added to the Food Supply once the Hunt Activity ends. One food restores one Energy point for the character that receives the food.

• Dan can jump from bush to far away bush, there is no limit on how far he can jump.

CLINICIAN INFORMATION FOR HUNT

The terrain is set out in a grid-like fashion, ensuring the distance between rabbits and Dan is exactly the same for each bush to rabbit distance. The grid has a diamond shape (with points extending diagonally from the center).

The Terrain itself has no effect on progression and does not affect the gameplay directly in any way, including how it relates to bushes and rabbits. However, the area grid can cover a good deal of ground, requiring the player to explore a large distance. Terrains vary from grass and trees to swamps, amber fields, etc.

The player may have difficulty with the following:

• Making the error of tapping a bush to release a stone rather than tapping Dan to release a stone . This takes practice and reflects cognitive flexibility in that the player must learn this rule to be successful in the game.
• Finding all of the rabbits that are hidden on terrain off screen. The player may benefit from reminders that more rabbits may be off screen. Moving left, right, up, or down will help them find the rabbits.
• Timing the release of a stone when the rabbit is visible. This takes practice.

Difficulty Level

The difficulty level increases with the number of:

• The number of rabbits to hunt (Range 5-15 per room).
• The speed of Targeting Cone rotation (Range of 25 rpm to 56 rpm).
• Number of bushes per room (Range 10-40).
• Time allowed to complete the game (Range 100 seconds – 232 seconds).
• The environment - including trees, shadows and layout of the screen.

Cognitive Skills Challenged

The Hunt game challenges executive functions, attention. and perceptual motor skills by measuring how well the player moves about the terrain catching rabbits.